Hi, I am new to this forum. My first brew was a German amber ale which came out pretty good for my first brew. This time I brewed a red ale which had two different grains to steep. I screwed up and forgot to steep at 160 F, I was so upset at myself for forgetting the obvious. I accidentally steeped the grain at a full boil and didn't realize my mistake until 15 minutes into it. I stopped the boil at that point and decided to take my chances and finish the whole brewing process, come what may.

My question now is: Did I ruin my batch? What can I expect from the finish product at this point?

While I wouldn't recommend boiling the grain, as a rule, your beer will probably be fine. At the worst, it may seem a bit more bitter than expected.

The main potential effect of boiling the grain is astringency, a bitter-like sensation that feels like your tongue is drying out, that comes from tannins in the grain husks. I'm not sure how much tannins you might extract, but under some circumstances, like during a decoction, grain can be boiled without developing astringency.

If it seems a little astringent when you crack the first bottle, let it age a month or two longer and that may fade somewhat.

My Red Ale brew is progressing nicely, fermenting actively at the 24hr mark.
It has now been almost 72 hours and the fermenting has begun to slow down a bit, which is almost the same rate of activity as I had in my first batch of extract brew. This batch has two types of grain. I took a sip of the wart before the fermenter and it wasn't bitter, but it was a little sweet and pleasantly flavored. If this is an indication of the end result, I think it will be a great batch!

I also decided to be more patient by letting my beer condition and age longer once in the keg. My first batch was a bit too fresh when I fisrt tapped it, but got better after a month or so. Needless to say, I am very excited about my new hobby.

Rick Shepherd wrote:My first batch was a bit too fresh when I fisrt tapped it, but got better after a month or so. Needless to say, I am very excited about my new hobby.

Those are two pretty common experiences! I'm still pretty excited about it!

There are beers that are fantastic almost as fresh as you can get them to your mouth, Weizen is the classic example and some Bitters and Pale Ales, but most seem to benefit from a little age. I often suggest 8 weeks as a ballpark estimate form when an average gravity beer will start to peak in flavor. Strong beers can take 6 months, a year, even longer.

Not that I don't often start drinking my beer at 4 or 5 weeks, but make sure you keep some around for long enough to get a good idea of when each style seems at it's best. Don't finish almost all of it off to find out that most were okay, but the last 2 bottles were delicious. Of course you can always make more!

This Red Ale turned out very good, with no astringent character, not too bitter for my taste, and all-around great taste, definitely a keeper, and also an indication of hor forgiving the process can be if you make a mistake. I still consider my self lucky with this batch.